STAR TREK: BEST OF?

 

Some net article recommended these as the best original series STAR TREKs; here is my take:

 

A PIECE OF THE ACTION: Funny, humorous if not riotously laugh out loud dialog, wonderful performances, it’s a little to wink, wink for me and certainly not as good as some of the better LOST IN SPACE episodes so best episode? No.

 

DAY OF THE DOVE: maybe good but best? No. Fun? Sort of. Haven’t seen it in years so maybe a rewatch is due but do I have to?

 

WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE: really? Sure, this was one of the first episodes after THE CAGE and others (not sure what was first but this was after THE CAGE, which was routine and not that great itself). This is a sort of throwback tale of a super man who wants to take over the universe with his mind powers. Not great and certainly the first five LOST IN SPACE episodes and the unaired pilots are superior. So, no.

 

THIS SIDE OF PARADISE: okay, some great scenes and a good premise: it’s really just the reverse of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS but instead of making everyone emotionless, it makes everyone MORE emotional. Well done but best ep? I love Kirk having to goad Spock into almost killing him, “Right next to the dog faced boy!”

 

THE NAKED TIME: no. And they go back in time to solve a problem. No. Grim and nasty. Maybe worth a rewatch but again, do I have to, with so much new stuff coming out soon?

 

TOMORROW IS YESTERDAY: No, give me the TIME TUNNEL and VOYAGERS and TIMELESS instead. This was not a favorite of mine and slow.

 

ARENA: this would rank in my top five episodes next to THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE, THE TROUBLE WITH TRIBBLES and CITY OF THE EDGE OF FOREVER. One of these four is the best. Is ARENA? Not sure but honestly, it’s not an original idea, even for 1966 or 67. It’s a well done execution and script though. It was done in THE OUTER LIMITS and both are adaptations of a story.

 

THE THOLIAN WEB: not the best but definitely under rated. BUT if you want space weirdness like this, SPACE: 1999 is far superior, even in some of season two’s episodes. Kirk is spirit and body lost in an alien web or something. Definitely a rewatch is needed. I do remember a funeral pace though.

 

THE ULTIMATE COMPUTER: interesting premise but…the best? Nope. Pretty good. Good acting. Not bad dialog at all and a good idea, done well but best? Nope.

 

A TASTE OF ARMAGEDDON-not the best but up there. Maybe in my top ten or top seven. This idea never left my consciousness whenever I think of good Sci Fi TV and good Star Trek. It’s a wonderful and scary idea: a war controlled by gov’t and ruling forces that need not be but is run based on fear of a coming war and what it might do. Brilliant, cautionary (which is what good sci fi is for), and disturbing. Good fight scenes, too. And music.

 

THE CORBOMITE MANEUVER-of early Trek, this is one of the better ones and the ideas keep coming and many of them are WTF is going on and WTF did I just see. It is different, original (maybe) and surprising, never boring. I like this. It’s maybe in my top ten?

 

ALL OUR YESTERDAYS-no, not really. While this episode seemed to always be airing somewhere some time during every month or every week or every time I wanted to watch TV or Trek, I don’t think it holds up very well at all. The “romance” feels contrived but there are some different ideas…for Trek. Still, not a favorite.

 

ERRAND OF MERCY-this has its good points and even great moments and a fab ending and might also be in my top ten. Kor is a good adversary played wonderfully by John C. Klingons were better in the original series.

 

THE MENAGERIE parts one and two: a good way to incorporate the CAGE into the show but the CAGE is not the best story, not terrible and certainly worthy of telling but the best? Nada. It is interesting to see how Spock will get out of this and how they will explain it. I like the wrap up. Still, I think, in similar circumstances LOST IN SPACE did a better job of incorporating its unaired pilot into the show, the first five episodes.

 

DEVIL IN THE DARK: I think this idea was taken from other sources but the rock monster, the first non human shaped alien I think I saw in TREK and maybe the first shown (?) is impressive. By today’s standards, it’s lame but then it made an impression. Maybe in the first top ten or top 15. And the music is wonderful. I like Shatner’s acting in this one, too. A good ep.

 

THE ENTERPRISE INCIDENT: meh. An okay episode but maybe in my top 25 or 50? Spy stuff in space. An interesting comparison of Vulcans and Romulans…and humans dressed as Romulans. Not terrible but I’m not sure it holds up well.

 

JOURNEY TO BABEL: not sure this fits in with AMOK TIME but anyway, a fun filled, action filled, emotional episode that I sometimes forget is high up on my list, too. It’s probably in my top six or top seven. I like it a lot and remember it fondly. Good action, good premise, good soundtrack and resolution. Good performances from all around. The dialog is a hoot.

 

AMOK TIME was certainly a favorite but…it has gone down a few notches. The last time I watched it, it’s difficult to connect it to ALL other TREK including JOURNEY TO BABEL and all the OS TREK movies where they return to Vulcan. It seems Kirk and McCoy lied to Vulcan that Jim was dead. How do they continue to have relations to Vulcan and Vulcan’s reps and gov’t if they did that? Was the leader in on it? Certainly, that was NOT the impression given. Still the idea is a great one and that music! Fantastic. The fight scenes excellent and the resolution…well, maybe not so much.

 

THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE is really a monster on the loose story; a sort of space age MOBY DICK which VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA already did at least once (THE GHOST OF MOBY DICK but also see THE SHAPE OF DOOM, GRAVEYARD OF FEAR, MONSTER’S WEB, THE CONDEMNED and others). The soundtrack is sound, the threat cannot be reasoned with and the action tense. Love that last scene where Kirk has to be beamed up despite the transporter malfunctioning. WOW. Incredible.

 

SPACE SEED: everyone seems to like this one and I do, too but it’s surely not the best. Frozen men from past leads his gang into taking over the ship. A good premise and it does deliver and love the fight scenes even if stunt men are obvious on DVD and blu ray. A good guest cast and good soundtrack again. Not bad and I can see why this villain was chosen to return for the second movie. He stands out as villains go. Not sure any of the others do.

 

THE TROUBLE WITH TRIBBLES stands as a fun episode though I think it’s dated badly and some of it might not make sense at least according to die hard fans (I may or may not be one as I have a long standing love/hate relationship with STAR TREK). This has some laugh out loud moments though and is pretty amusing all around. Probably in my top five, too. Tribbles are one of TREK’S greatest achievements. I’m surprised they are not used more often. A hybrid Tribble or a human Tribbles or a monster evil Tribble would be very entertaining as an idea.

 

BALANCE OF TERROR is really THE ENEMY BELOW, a sub movie about a German sub commander (A Nazi?) who battles a US commander on a destroyer. Some of this movie is used on VOYAGE TO THE BOTOTM OF THE SEA episodes, but used a lot and mostly in KILLERS OF THE DEEP.  Still, this is a great battle of wits and patience between Kirk and the Romulan commander, the first time we see Romulans, who look like Vulcans. Tense and not at all patronizing. It also is uncompromising as the crewman who was to be married is one of the dead on the Enterprise (maybe the only one). Cost. Good performances make this more than just an adaptation of THE ENEMY BELOW.

 

MIRROR, MIRROR may look lame now and maybe it has not dated well but it’s a great exploration of an alternate history universe or a parallel universe where decisions were different and history, if not time, ran differently than our own.  The alternates all are worth watching. Again, I forgot about this episode because such stories seem standard in sci fi, fantasy, and comic books now but this is a feat of TV; to examine such a thing. And again, the use of the soundtrack is wonderful.

 

CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER is, of course, number one. Joan Collins, not my favorite actress as she criticizes others such as Richard Basehart, does a fine job here as Edith Keeler. Time is changed thanks to an accident that affected Dr. McCoy who is in the past now. Kirk and Spock go back to find him and stop this change: and Shatner’s never been better. Nimoy’s also very, very good in this and Kelley is as well. Top notch acting and dialog here. I would place this as number one but…it’s so grim, dark and sad. A well done episode and worthy of the medium of TV.